Gay
Term referring to a homosexual person
Summary
Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant "carefree", "cheerful', or "bright and showy". While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 19th century, that meaning became increasingly common by the mid-20th century. In modern English, gay has come to be used as an adjective, and as a noun, referring to the community, practices and cultures associated with homosexuality. In the 1960s, gay became the word favored by homosexual men to describe their sexual orientation. By the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, the word gay was recommended by major LGBTQ groups and style guides to describe people attracted to members of the same sex, although it is more commonly used to refer specifically to men.
Originally created by Mjausson
5/20/2001, 4:43:44 PM
Modified
5/25/2026, 2:43:56 AM
Recent revisions
/* Generalized pejorative use */ Link [[no homo]] + LQ
Filled in 2 bare reference(s) with reFill 2
/* top */ expand cite and add archive
[[WP:GENFIXES|General fixes]] (minor/cosmetic only skipped); convert external links to refs
Boldly add {{italic title}} as this article is specifically about a term
/* top */added sources
remove [[WP:ATODAY]] (via [[WP:JWB]])
replace with standard accepted flag
Added sexual orientation.
Added “gay men” to the sidebar
Open this website: https://mlmflags.carrd.co/#gay-flags. Copy the link for it to go to the website
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1346870079|1346870079]] by [[Special:Contributions/Dmdjdu|Dmdjdu]] ([[User talk:Dmdjdu|talk]])
According to this link: [[https://mlmflags.carrd.co/#gay-flags]]
Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Dmdjdu|Dmdjdu]] ([[User talk:Dmdjdu|talk]]): not providing a [[WP:RS|reliable source]] ([[WP:CITE]], [[WP:RS]]) ([[WP:HG|HG]]) (3.4.12)
Added more details
(This is not a permanent edit)
Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Dmdjdu|Dmdjdu]] ([[User talk:Dmdjdu|talk]]) ([[WP:HG|HG]]) (3.4.14)
Added the new flag of the gay people
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1346781025|1346781025]] by [[Special:Contributions/Dmdjdu|Dmdjdu]] ([[User talk:Dmdjdu|talk]])
Added new gay flag
